Proof
by Lifeofthe6
Summary: It's a quiet Sunday when Hinata is summoned to go on a special mission with Naruto. Neither of them could have expected the adventure they were about to get themselves into. Action and romance combine in this exciting NaruHina fanfic!
1. Chapter 1

**NaruHina – Proof**

**Chapter 1**

"Hinata-sama. Tsunade-sama has called you to her office. I expect it's a mission." Neji Hyuuga poked his head into his cousin's room to deliver this news.

"Ah, yes. I'll be right there." Hinata replied. The Hyuuga main branch heiress was laying on her bed in her pajamas reading manga and listening to music. She looked much more laid back than she usually did as a ninja. Hinata got up and got dressed.

It was early on a Sunday morning so no one was up except the usuals: Kiba and Akamaru Inuzuka on one of their morning walks, Ino Yamanaka opening up her family's flower shop, and Maito Gai and Rock Lee running 500 laps around the village.

"I wonder who else had the patience to get up this early." Hinata laughed to herself, wondering who her teammate was this time. She felt that she had some time, so Hinata stopped to pick up a couple cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which she happily munched on during her trip to the Hokage's office.

When Hinata arrived at her destination, she found that she was alone in the office, besides the Hokage and Tonton, Shizune's pig, who was sleeping on the floor in a beam of sun.

"Tsunade-sama. I'm here." She said timidly. The Fifth Hokage Lady Tsunade looked up from her papers.

"You're twenty minutes late." The Fifth replied.

"S-sorry," Hinata bowed, "A-am I alone on this mission?" Tsunade sighed,

"No, you're not. You've got one teammate, but he's even later." Hinata expected it was Shikamaru Nara or maybe even Chouji Akimichi, as being late was in both of their natures. She decided to ask who it was anyway, but was interrupted when Sakura Haruno burst through the door dragging Naruto Uzumaki by the collar. Sakura cast a look at Hinata, which frightened the Hyuuga a little, but Sakura was simply identifying her.

"Here's your teammate. I swear, every other time Naruto has a mission I have to drag him out of bed. Do me a favor and go hard on him, will you?" Sakura threw her load on the floor. He was still asleep. Sakura stomped out of the room muttering something about irresponsibility.

"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata shook the orange ninja for him to get up. He slowly opened his eyes.

"The Hokage's office? How did I get here?" Naruto asked.

"Sakura-chan brought, or really threw you in here. W-we have a mission." Hinata explained.

"Aw, this early? You should really give missions later in the day, Granny Tsunade." Naruto complained.

"That's not how I choose to run the Leaf Village, Naruto. Now pay attention so I can explain your mission," Tsunade cleared her throat, "A client from the Land of Roses has sent Konohagakure a challenge." Simply the word 'challenge' got Naruto interested.

"Alright! Something that'll actually be fun!" he exclaimed. Tsunade threw a scroll at Naruto's face. The scroll made contact and knocked Naruto to the ground. Hinata couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

"Let me finish, Naruto. We are to send one male ninja and one female ninja to the Land of Roses and have them find their way through something they affectionately call 'The Lovers' Labyrinth'." Hinata gasped and blushed. _A mission with Naruto through something called 'The Lovers' Labyrinth? Exactly what kind of mission is this? _She thought to herself. "You two are going to be the ones we send through the maze. Your job is to find their famed 'Lovers' Blue Rose' at the center of the maze and bring it back to the Leaf. The client said if we are successful, he and his country will acknowledge Konoha as a place of pure heart and true love, and we'd like such a peaceful image so that we can avoid wars. The Land of Roses is a large distance away, so pack well, and good luck." The Fifth finished.

"Yeah, that's great and all, but why are _we _being sent?" Naruto asked.

"The honest reason is that we have no one else available. I've got every ninja in Konoha on some mission sometime today. I have a personal reason, too, but I'll keep that to myself." Tsunade winked.

"Whatever. I shouldn't have to waste my time and energy on this boring type of search and find kind of thing. It's probably a C-Rank mission at best." Naruto snorted. He and Hinata began to walk out of the room to prepare for their assignment.

"Don't take it so lightly." Tsunade stopped them before they exited. "It is a C-Rank mission for now, but once you get underway it could easily escalate to B or even A-Rank difficulty. That's another reason I'm sending you, Naruto. I would have Kiba assist Hinata for this one, but you may need to protect Hinata with everything you've got, and I can't have Kiba prioritizing Akamaru and her." Hinata looked down. She didn't like being the one that had to be protected. In fact, she wanted to be the one protecting. She wanted to show everyone that she was just as strong as any of her friends, and suddenly showed an expression of pride on her face. Naruto noticed this and his opinion about the mission instantly changed.

"I like that look on your face, Hinata-chan. Maybe this will be fun, after all!"

About an hour later, Naruto and Hinata met at Konoha's main gate. Both had large backpacks on with enough equipment to last a week or so.

"Are you ready, Hinata?" Naruto asked.

"Y-yeah, let's go." The Hyuuga replied. The two ninja walked in relative silence for a couple miles. Hinata was subconsciously humming one of her favorite songs.

"Hey, Hinata." Naruto snapped her out of her trance.

"Huh? W-what is it?" Hinata was surprised.

"What's that song you're humming? I kind of like it." Said Naruto.

"Oh, I didn't know I was… It's called 'Soumeikyoku no Yuukaku'." Hinata answered.

"Oh, cool. Does it have words?"

"Um, yes."

"Could you sing, then? I'm sure it will sound even better than humming." Hinata blushed. _Naruto-kun just asked me to sing for him! What am I supposed to do? _ She thought.

"Ah, no, you don't want me to sing. I-I'm not that good, to be honest…" Hinata tried to get out of it.

"That's nonsense! I heard your humming and that was good. How bad can your voice be?" Naruto assured her.

"O-Ok. I guess if it's only to you." Hinata opened her mouth:

* * *

**Soumeikyoku no Yuukaku (The Orchid's Sonata)**

"_Ahh, as the wind blows through the field_

_All but the orchid falls_

_Ahh, the rain makes trees grow_

_To block the orchid's sun_

_But the orchid raises a hill_

_On top the flower had won_

_When the grass turns the orchid's blue_

_And makes the orchid bland_

_The orchid blazes crimson red_

_The flower wins again_

_I want to be the orchid_

_Delicate but strong_

_So I can say to everyone_

_Ahh, I'm ready to prove you wrong"_

_

* * *

  
_

Hinata finished. She noticed Naruto's mouth agape and his eyes wide, staring at her. She quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry, my voice isn't that great and the song is really childish and embarrassing and—"

"Are you kidding, Hinata?" Naruto threw his hands up excitedly, "That should totally be your theme song or something!"

"R-Really? Why?" Naruto looked to the sky, as if recalling something.

"Well you've said before that no one really appreciates you, and that you've always been weak and never stood out. I think that song shows how you feel, y'know? Your voice is really incredible, too." He explained.

"Th-thank you, Naruto-kun." Hinata bowed.

"You don't need to be so formal about it! Hey! I've got an idea," Naruto jumped in front of Hinata and spread his arms excitedly, which stopped Hinata. "How about I give you all of the credit for completing this mission? Tsunade said it was important and if everyone knows you did it, that would show them all how strong you really are!"

"B-but lying… that wouldn't be good. I'd rather prove my worth some other way—Naruto, watch out!" Naruto was walking backwards when Hinata suddenly halted him from falling straight over a cliff. Rocks tumbled down where Naruto stopped abruptly.

"Whoa, thanks, Hinata. I would have been done for if you didn't yell right then." Naruto was thanking Hinata, but she seemed fixated on something beyond the cliff. He turned to see what is was, and then his eyes got as wide as the Hyuuga's.

"This must be… the Land of Roses." Said Hinata.

A vast expanse of flowers carpeted almost all of the hills below the cliff. As the country's name suggested, most of them were roses of all different colors. Other wildflowers and blooms you would normally see in a bouquet grew freely among them. Even the few trees that were there were full of colorful foliage and a constant breeze brought the entire view to life. The two ninja looked for a way down, but there was none in sight.

"How are we supposed to get down there, then?" Hinata asked. Suddenly Naruto took her hand; she squeaked.

"We'll jump!" Before Hinata could protest about the impending doom of a one-hundred foot drop, the unpredictable ninja took both of them over the edge. Hinata screamed and closed her eyes and felt a falling sensation for a short moment, but then she felt she and Naruto land on something soft. Slowly, Hinata opened her eyes.

"Whoa, awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. He was standing up, but on what? They were clearly still airborne. Hinata moved her hand, and found she was in a large pile of flower petals—more of a cloud of petals, actually. She and Naruto were being carried down on a platform of flower petals.

"No way." Hinata gasped. While Naruto, stood up, pretending to command the two ninja's strange vessel like a ship, Hinata simply sat on her knees and enjoyed the ride. Eventually they reached the ground in a patch of daisies.

"It's beautiful." Said Hinata.

"It smells nice, too." Naruto added. Wind blew all kinds of petals about. One of the gusts stirred up a group of peach blossoms in an oddly tornado-like fashion. Even more strangely, a lady materialized in the center of them.

"That was very bold of you two, taking that jump, there." The lady surprised Naruto and Hinata. She was in a sun dress and hat; both peach colored, and had long, flowing light-lavender hair. Her eyes were a sky blue and were very calm, which eased Hinata and Naruto's surprise. If all of that wasn't shocking enough, a ninja headband was tied around her neck, with a lotus flower as the symbol on the plate.

"You must be Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuuga." She said after a moment of silence. They nodded.

"I am Momo Kusabana. Welcome to Hanagakure."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I didn't know the Land of Roses had a hidden village." Said Naruto.

"Not many people do. Our village isn't very militaristic, but you'd be surprised at the number of thieves who come to this country to steal rare flowers for profit, medicine, or poison. That's why we had a ninja system installed so we could fight off any bandits that endanger the peace of our home." Momo explained.

"That's very interesting." Said Hinata, wanting to be polite.

"Thank you very much. Now then, it would be best we get moving to the village. That's where the maze is. You'll get more instructions when we arrive." Said Momo. The three set off through the hills to Hanagakure. After about half an hour of traversing through the blooms, they came to two massive wooden gates. The same lotus that was on Momo's headband was painted on the gates. Thick wooden walls surrounded the village, much like the stone ones that circled Konoha.

The ninja entered the gates and Naruto and Hinata found themselves in a smaller version of their own home.

"This place looks a lot like—"

"The Leaf village?" Momo interrupted Naruto before he could finish. "Hanagakure is also called 'The Leaf's little sister' because to build it, we simply scaled down the plans for Konoha and changed some things. The Lovers' Labyrinth, for example, is at the center of the village rather than a shopping district."

"But if this is a smaller replica of the Leaf, where's the kage's building?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, we don't have a kage. We're not a ninja village primarily in the first place, so our ninja are just headed by the Jounin." Momo answered.

"So are you a Jounin?" it was Hinata's turn to inquire. Momo shook her head,

"No, but I'm in training to become one. Each Jounin must know almost everything about the Hidden Flower village, along with being strong enough to defend our homestead and our flowers." Naruto and Hinata were silent for a moment, and then they both showed expressions of great realization.

"So you were the one who brought us down on those flower petals!" Naruto pointed at Momo and exclaimed. Momo smiled.

"Yes, my Bloom Control Jutsu allows me to move leaves and flower petals at will. Though from the report your Hokage sent about you two, I expected Hinata to have figured out it was a jutsu by now." Hinata looked away and blushed.

"W-well, I could have. I-I was just…"  
"Distracted? Any girl would be when floating on a bed of flower petals with someone she cares about." Momo finished for her. This turned Hinata even redder.

"Hey, Hinata! Are you alright?" Naruto saw that his teammate's face looked distressed.

"You kids are so cute. Ah, we're almost to the maze. Look, up ahead." Said Momo. Fifteen foot high hedges towered over Naruto and Hinata. A man that looked like Momo, but with much shorter hair, green eyes, and with his headband around his head stood at an opening in the hedges marked "ENTRANCE".

"Ume," Momo greeted the man, "Are you on entrance duty today?"

"Yes." He replied. The man looked at Naruto and Hinata. "These must be our contestants today. I am Ume Kusabana, Momo's older brother."

"Yep, that's us! Nice to meet you, Ume!" said Naruto, putting his arm around Hinata.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Ume asked playfully.

"Uh, no! That's not it at all! We're not together or anything yet. I-It's just a mission." Hinata tried to defend herself, but then she noticed her mistake. She had said "yet".

"I see," Ume replied, pretending not to have noticed Hinata's blunder, "Well it's guaranteed you'll be closer when you come out of the Labyrinth—excuse me, _if _you come out of the Labyrinth."

"Ume, are you sure you should tell them?" Momo warned her brother. He cast a glance back at her.

"They need to know what's ahead." Ume put his hand on Momo's shoulder. She nodded her approval.

"The Hokage must have told you that your mission is harder than it sounds. This maze is no game. Only those with the true power of love come out of this place alive. Dozens of hopefuls have already met their fate in here, and only ten couples have ever completed the task. You are the first pair to answer our challenge in three years, and judging by the quick response of your village, you two are up to par." Ume explained.

"Y-you make it sound so scary. W-what kinds of things will we find in the maze?" Hinata asked. This introduction to the maze had frightened the young Hyuuga.

"The Lovers' Labyrinth is protected by ninjutsu to keep many fearsome creatures inside. On top of that, it is a maze, so there are hundreds of puzzles, traps, false paths, and dead ends all throughout. Both of you will need to protect each other with your lives if you are to make it through, because either both of you make it out, or neither of you do. Like I said, only those ten couples before you have made it. Death is not only a possibility, it is a probability, and so only the strongest will survive. This is your last chance. Are you sure you want to take this challenge for your village? There is no shame in declining." Ume's face was dead serious. Hinata looked terrified, but Naruto looked exhilarated.

"N-Naruto-kun. This sounds a lot harder than we thought. Should we still—"

"Of course! No Leaf ninja ever backs down from a challenge. Besides, this is your chance to prove yourself, Hinata-chan! Don't worry, I'll be with you every step of the way." Naruto assured his teammate. She smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I'll do my best for you."

"So you will go?" Ume asked one last time. Naruto and Hinata nodded their acknowledgement. Ume took out two audio transceivers.

"Take these. Momo and I will be contactable up to a certain point in the maze to give you just a small amount of help. It will be on your own love that you find the Lovers' Blue Rose and get out, though. Do you remember those couples I told you about? They made it through the maze, but _no one _has ever found the rose. Good luck and great love to you."

"Alright, Hinata. Let's do this!"

"Yeah, let's go, Naruto-kun!" And the two Konoha ninja dashed into the Lovers' Labyrinth, with Hinata right on Naruto's heels. It was time to see if they had the skill—and the love—to find the famed Lovers' Blue Rose.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Naruto and Hinata raced through the maze close together. So far no traps they triggered had surprised them, and they had only run into a few dead ends.

"Man, this maze is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside." Naruto complained. He and Hinata slowed their pace to a walk for the time being.

"It's getting dark, too. I'm glad we packed for more than a day." Hinata was looking up at the ever dulling sky, their only connection to the outside world besides their audio transceivers.

"Naruto-kun, there's a clearing up ahead where we can set up camp. There are also a couple of trees that we can use for firewood." Hinata used her Byakugan to peer further along the corridor the two Leaf ninja were in.

"Good eye, Hinata. You'll prove yourself sooner than you think." Naruto complimented her. When they got to the clearing, it didn't take long for Naruto and Hinata to set up camp. Hinata drew a hatchet from her backpack and, with remarkable ease, hacked branches for a fire and more for extra fuel. It was night by the time she had a fire blazing. Naruto and Hinata sat by each other eating ramen that Naruto had brought along.

"It's been fun so far, hasn't it, Hinata?" Naruto asked after several moments of silence.

"Yeah, and the night is really calm. For the first day, it's been easy." Hinata agreed.

"Even so, I kind of want some action," said Naruto. Hinata blushed. _He can't be thinking of… _she thought. "Ume said that there's some pretty nasty stuff in here, and we haven't seen any. Maybe it was just a bluff." Naruto's comment was immediately answered by crackling over the transceiver. It was Momo.

"Naruto, Hinata. The ninjutsu over the maze have detected a large creature moving to your position. Be on your guard." Naruto put his hand to his ear.

"The ninjutsu detected it?" he asked, "Do they act as some sort of scanner or something?"

"Yes. The chakra for the ninjutsu is directed to this monitor room where we can see just about every living thing in this maze, but that's not the point. It's almost there!" Momo warned them. There were five minutes of silence. Naruto and Hinata braced themselves for the worst.

"Momo-chan, are you there? We don't see anything, even with my Byakugan." Said Hinata.

"I-I don't get it either. It just jumped off radar. Maybe it was a false alarm. Even ninjutsu can fail, you know." Naruto and Hinata sighed.

"Perhaps we should get some sleep," Hinata suggested, "We'll have more energy to fight anything if we rest now."

"Good idea," Naruto nodded, "I'll see you in the morning." And with that the two retired to their tents. Naruto and Hinata fell asleep to the sounds of their fire burning, what little wind that existed blowing through the hedges, and night birds singing their eerie lullabies.

The morning held even more sounds, but these were harsh grunts and growls and clashing pans rather than the soft and easy sounds of the night before. Naruto peered out of his tent to see what the commotion was, and his eyes got as wide as Hinata's, who was looking at the same thing from her tent opposite his.

A huge, lumbering, lizard and bear-like creature sniffed around the Leaf ninja's camp. It looked like a salamander with a row of thick, white fur running down its spine. It had hard, scaly, dark green skin with spikes adorning its long tail. The creature's eyes blazed yellow and were easily the most menacing part of it.

Until it roared in frustration from lack of food.

Its bellow shook everything around it, making the surrounding hedges look like they were breathing. The bass was so deep it was nearly silent, but it hurt Naruto and Hinata's ears. Hinata screamed from the pain, and unfortunately attracted the attention of the beast

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto! The reading is back! It's right on top of you!" Momo called on the radios.

"You don't think I already know that?! What is that thing?" said Naruto. The creature bellowed again.

"It could be anything. Not even the best Flower ninja know exactly what is in the Lovers' Labyrinth." Momo replied. The time for talk was over. Naruto jumped and threw a kunai to get the lizard-thing's attention. The kunai simply pinged off the creature's armor-like skin, but got its focus away from Hinata.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto made about ten shadow clones and the all jumped on the monster, confusing it. It shook in attempt to dismount the clones, but they held on hard

"Hinata! Run, I can't hold him much longer!" the real Naruto cried.

"No! You can't fight alone!" Hinata pleaded. She rushed into battle as well, but in her uncertainty of how to act, she was blindsided by the creature's tail and sent flying. Luckily, the barriers around them were soft hedges, so Hinata's only injuries were from the tail lashing.

"I can't let something like this keep me down! Naruto's giving it everything he's got for the both of us, and I need to do the same!" the Hyuuga hyped herself up. She assumed the Juuken stance.

"Naruto!" she called. Through the action of the animal's thrashing, Naruto saw that Hinata was gearing up for an attack. He jumped off and dismissed his clones, leaving the beast dazed.

"Do it, Hinata!" he cried. The surrounding area darkened, and teal concentric circles emanated from the Hyuuga.

"Shugohakke: Gohyaku Juunishou!" Two strikes, four strikes, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred twenty-eight, two hundred fifty-six, and finally five hundred twelve strikes sailed into the lizard and bear-like creature. It roared in pain, and then lay utterly limp in the center of the Leaf ninja's camp. The 1022 palms used to kill the monster left Hinata exhausted and she collapsed. She heard Naruto calling her name before she lost consciousness.

Hinata awoke several hours later, somehow moving.

"Oh, Hinata-chan. You're awake." Naruto looked down at Hinata, who quickly realized she was in Naruto's arms. He was carrying her. She involuntarily squeaked and flinched.

"Whoa, relax!" Naruto calmed her, because when she squirmed, he almost dropped her.

"I-I'm sorry. Where are we?" Hinata asked.

"Somewhere further in the maze, but I'm not entirely sure." Naruto replied. Hinata noticed a lack of straps on Naruto's back.

"Our stuff, where is it?" she asked.

"It was all crushed by that monster." Said Naruto.

"Oh, I see. I-I can walk, now, Naruto-kun." Hinata requested to be put down. Naruto complied.

"That was really awesome how you took out that thing back there. I sure couldn't have fought him alone." He said after setting Hinata down. She blushed yet again.

"N-No, not at all. It was because you worked so hard to protect me, I had to help you, too." Hinata replied modestly. Naruto was not convinced.

"But that move! I've never seen it before; it was so strong!"

"M-my Protective Eight Trigrams: 512 Palms… I just finished developing it. I-I thought it was best to try it out on a mission like this." Hinata twiddled her fingers timidly. Naruto was about to comment on this when the ground below them cracked.

"Ah!" Hinata screamed. The Konoha ninja tensed up, and were just regaining footing when the ground then crumbled away, sending the two into a dark dungeon.

Sunlight lit the portion of the dungeon that Naruto and Hinata fell in. Right when they landed, Ume called their transceivers.

"Naruto, Hinata. We've detected that you've fallen into the dungeon."

"Yeah, we fell alright. What the hell is this place?" Naruto said, rubbing his head.

"This is where we leave you to your own devices." It was Momo this time.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"You've been on the right path to the Lovers' Blue Rose. You could call this dungeon a checkpoint of sorts. Often times this is where many couples panic and perish, but you two are doing remarkably well. Just keep moving, and your love will show you the way to the rose." As Ume finished his voice faded away and the radios died.

"It looks like we're on our own now." Said Naruto.

"Ume said… our love will help us find the rose… and I know that I… but you…" Hinata couldn't finish her thoughts.

"What? Hinata, you're not making any sense." Naruto was obviously confused, but as he was about to say more, Hinata buried herself into him.

"We have to use love to complete this mission but," Hinata's voice was muffled in Naruto's jacket, "I don't know if we're feeling the same love for each other." Naruto's jacket was getting wet. Hinata was crying.

"What do you mean 'the same love'? Do you think we're supposed to—"

"I love you, Naruto! I really do! Ever since that day in the academy—always… I've just never known how you felt about me… you always wanted to impress Sakura." Hinata had fallen to her knees in tears. Naruto was dumbfounded. He was in a dungeon in a strange village, on a mission that no one has ever truly completed, and his teammate just confessed her love to him. While he didn't know what to say, thoughts flooded into his head about him and Hinata.

He thought about all the times she had been there, looking at him, supporting him. She was the only one to have faith in him when everyone else chose to condescend. In the Chunnin exams, she wouldn't stop fighting Neji even against insurmountable odds, because that's what he would have done. Before he left to train with Jiraya, Hinata had told Naruto that she wanted to be strong like everyone else, and she had only told him because she knew that Naruto was the only one that would commend her for it. Even now, Hinata was the one to save the both of them when that giant creature attacked.

And what had Sakura, the one Naruto thought he loved, done for him? Not much; they were on the same team, and they were friends, that's it. Seeing this beautiful, strong girl at his feet, throwing herself at him for the sake of this mission, Naruto realized something amazing. He loved Hinata, too. He dropped to his knees as well and hugged her.

"I don't know why I didn't see it sooner Hinata. Through all this, you're the one I loved all along. I'm sorry I've been so clueless about it until now." He said. Hinata lifted her head, and her large, lavender eyes sparkled with tears as Naruto looked into them.

"Naruto…" Hinata said her love's name, and her lips fell onto his. Naruto smiled.

"I think we can finish this mission easy, now." Hinata wiped her face with her sleeve and nodded agreement.

"Yeah. Let's finish it, for Konoha."

"No, Hinata. For us."


	4. Finale

**Final Chapter**

The Labyrinth's dungeon was only lit with rows of torches along each wall. While there were many twists and turns, Naruto and Hinata seemed to approach their destination decisively. Hinata used her Byakugan to scan the area for any danger. Along a narrow hallway, she stopped Naruto.

"Naruto, there's a wall here."

"What? I don't see anything." Naruto put out his hand to physically search for it. As he was veering in the wrong direction, Hinata grabbed his hand and guided it to the invisible barrier. This time, Naruto was the one that blushed.

"O-Oh, I see now." He said.

"There's no other way around it." Hinata reported, looking around, "There's also a chakra signature unlike anything I've ever seen before up ahead."

"That must be the rose!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Why would the rose have a chakra signature?" Hinata looked puzzled.

"Well how else would it survive down here for so long?"

"Good point. In any case, we need to get through this wall." Hinata redirected attention back to the two ninja's obstacle. Suddenly, Naruto put out his hand.

"Will you do the honors?" he said. Hinata knew what he meant, and started molding his chakra into a spiral shape.

"Rasengan!" Naruto thrust his rotating sphere into the wall. The force released a genjutsu that was hiding the wall, and it became completely visible at it was blasted away. With the path clear, the Konoha lovers could continue on to the rose's chamber. They nearly tripped as they ran in, but not because of surprise out of danger, but from pure awe.

The rose was situated in the center of a glade bathed in a hole of sunlight. Grasses and smaller flowers surrounded it, and somehow blue specks of light circled it like a swarm of azure fireflies.

"The Lovers' Blue Rose…" Hinata gasped. She held Naruto's hand as they walked towards it.

"It's so beautiful. I almost don't want to take it." Said Naruto. He appeared to be in some sort of trance. Hinata bent down to pick the rose, and when she did, it was as if she had done nothing at all. There was the rose in Hinata's hand, but it was also still on its perch, like she had picked only a silhouette of the real thing.

"But how…?" she looked back and forth between the two roses.

"Love is eternal," Ume's voice echoed through the chamber all of a sudden. Naruto and Hinata put their hands to their ears to see if it was coming from there, but the transceivers were still dead. "As is our flower. Welcome to the reason why no one has ever claimed the Lovers' Blue Rose." The sunlight from the hole in the rose's chamber made the surrounding area seem dark, and Ume and Momo Kusabana appeared from the shadows, smirking grimly.

"You two have done the best job of finding the rose out of anyone to date, but that was the easy part. You can only _keep _the rose if you pass this final test." Said Ume.

"What 'test'? Wasn't the Lovers' Labyrinth enough? We spent two days in that place!" Naruto yelled.

"You successfully used love to solve problems and navigate your way through the maze, but…" Momo paused, and Naruto and Hinata suddenly found them selves rising. The Blue Rose's glade was a platform, and it was lifting up into a packed arena. "You now have to prove how well you can use your love to fight!" the crowd in the arena cheered loudly.

"The ten couples to complete the Labyrinth had no such skill, and died here versus our Jounin in training. That is the last test of Hanagakure's Chunnin: to defeat a ninja from another village. Now it is mine and my sister's turn to become Jounin, and we will do it by killing you!" Ume yelled maniacally.

"That's sick!" Naruto lashed back.

"Do you know what actually happens in that maze of yours? People may have died, sure, but those ten couples you said found their way: they found the way through by finding each other as well, just like Naruto and I have! To put them through all that just so you can kill them is… unforgivable!" Hinata ranted. Such an overdrive from Hinata astounded Naruto.

"Naruto-kun," she said suddenly, "I think I know why Tsunade-sama sent us. She knew that this is the way Hanagakure appoints their Jounin, and she knew once we learned that, neither of us would stand for it. She knew what would happen between us here and most of all…" Hinata assumed the Gentle Fist stance, "She knew we are going to be the ones to stop it." Momo and Ume laughed.

"Try all you want. The Flower ninja are stronger than any ninja of the Hidden Leaf, and from your Hokage's report, one of you is only a Genin." Momo mocked them.

"Rank means nothing! If you think we're so weak, though, then you won't back down from a little bet." Hinata said.

"A bet?" Ume mimicked, "Very well. What did you have in mind?"

"If we win, then we get the rose, and this system of killing other ninja just to become Jounin comes to an end and all the dangers in your maze get taken out so it can only be used for honest sport. If we lose, however, your system stays and…" Hinata needed to think of something quick; the stakes weren't high enough, "… and you get the secret to the Byakugan."

"Hinata!" Naruto warned her. Such a proposal was dangerous, but that was the point. Momo and Ume took the bait.

"Excellent. That will help our village infinitely. Let's fight." Said Ume.

"Yes, let's. Naruto!" Hinata ordered for action, and the four ninja rushed into battle. Hinata squared off against Ume, while Naruto took on Momo.

"Bloom Control Jutsu!" Momo summoned thousands of flower petals and leaves and sent them flying at Naruto. Naruto jumped, but the attack followed him and caught him off guard. It slammed him to the ground.

Hinata and Ume were battering each other using taijutsu. Ume's fighting style did surprisingly well against the Juuken, but even so the match was near even. A jab equaled a dodge, and a kick was easily evaded. It looked like the two would never hit each other. The crowd was loving every minute of both fights.

Naruto was busy assaulting Momo with shadow clone after shadow clone, but Momo sustained her Bloom Control Jutsu and took out every one that came at her. Naruto had no time for a Rasengan, either, because when Momo wasn't on the defense, he was, dodging the wave of leaves and petals Momo sent at him. In all this, though, Naruto saw an opening. He made one shadow clone and sent it one way, while he ran another. Momo, noticing this tactic, suddenly looked troubled. It was just as Naruto thought. Momo only had but so much control over her ninjutsu, and couldn't use it in the same way Gaara's sand could act as an ultimate defense. The wave of blooms went after the clone, and while Momo was distracted, Naruto made another clone.

"Rasengan!" he cried.

"Dang it!" Momo saw her predicament and braced herself for the Rasengan attack rather than focus her blooms on the other clone. Big mistake. With Momo's bloom control no longer a problem, Naruto's clone could grab hold of her, making Momo a perfect target for the Rasengan. It was a direct hit. Momo lay unconscious on the ground, and Naruto dismissed his clones. He then turned his attention to Hinata's fight.

"Hinata! I'm coming!" he called. Unfortunately, this got Hinata's attention, and a punch to the face sent her to the ground.

"N-No, Naruto…" Hinata got up from the blow, blood on her face, but not apparently hurt, "You've already won your fight. I have to… win mine… on my own!" Naruto suddenly saw the younger Hinata from almost three years ago standing valiantly in the Gentle Fist stance after being destroyed by Neji both mentally and physically. That figure slowly morphed into the Hinata before him, once again beaten and bruised in an arena, but this time she kept on fighting because she _knew _she could win, not because she thought she could.

"Look at you," Ume chuckled, "What are you trying to prove? We both may be Chunnin, but you're far too fragile; far too easily distracted. There's no way you can beat me alone!"

"Too distracted, huh?" Hinata, still battle ready, simply smiled at this comment. Suddenly, she nearly disappeared from view for a split second and re-appeared right behind Ume. "Distract this! Juukenhou: Hakkeshou Rokujuu Yonshou!" Ume was taken aback,

"What?! Such amazing speed!"

"Yeah, get him, Hinata!" Naruto cheered. The crowd of Hanagakure's arena cheered, too.

"Nishou, yonshou, hachishou, juurokushou, sanjuu nishou, hakkeshou rokujuu yonshou!" Hinata held her finishing stance, and Ume fell to the ground, incapacitated. Hanagakure medical ninja came to retrieve Momo and Ume, and flinched when Hinata looked at them. Exhausted and panting, Hinata fell to her knees, and Naruto rushed over.

"You did it, Hinata! Coming to this village won't be a death wish to anyone, now!"

"Y-yeah, I guess I did. I really… proved myself."

It took another day for Naruto and Hinata to return to Konoha, and they did so hand in hand, which was a sight for many of their friends to see. They went to the Hokage's office as casually as ever. As they entered, Tsunade looked up from her papers, and Shizune, who was bringing in more, also turned to see the visitors.

"Ah, welcome back, you two. From the looks of your clothes you had just as rough of a time as I expected, but by the looks on your faces, it seems the mission was a success." Said Tsunade.

"Yes, it was, in more ways than one." Hinata smiled and looked at Naruto, who was doing the same to her. The two delivered their report, and as they did, Tsunade and Shizune stared at them in shock.

"It looks like I was right about this assignment. I'll stamp you both for the completion of an A-Rank mission." Tsunade congratulated them.

"Oh, but wait. Where's the Lovers' Blue Rose? If I recall, that was the main point of the mission."

"Oh, sorry, Tsunade-sama. I almost forgot." Hinata fished in her jacket, moving her breasts around with a surprising lack of embarrassment, and produced the rose, as sparkling and beautiful as ever. She placed it on Tsunade's desk and bowed.

"Good work. You are dismissed, and good luck in your new relationship." Tsunade let Naruto and Hinata leave.

It wasn't long before news got around about Naruto and Hinata's mission, and both of them received great amounts of recognition, especially Hinata. The night she came home, the Hyuuga family prepared a feast for she and Naruto as congratulations for the mission and themselves.

"For the first time, Hinata felt accepted and loved. She and Naruto became known as "Konoha's True Lovers", but even with their celebrity status, they could still find time for each other.

"Hinata." Naruto said one night while the two gazed at stars on a park bench.

"Yes?" Hinata asked.

"Do you want to… come to my apartment for the night? I've never actually had anyone over so…" Hinata's kiss interrupted him.

"Of course," she replied. Then, with a mischievous look on her face, she said,

"Maybe there I can 'prove myself' to you even more."

**THE END**


End file.
